The debate over intolerance in India was an

"unnecessary" creation of very imaginative minds

being "paid with a lot of money", Union Minister
V K Singh claimed on Monday, asserting that the
row was a politically motivated move before the
Bihar polls.
"This particular debate (on intolerance) is no
debate. It is the unnecessary creation of very
imaginative minds who are being paid with a lot of
money," Minister of State for External Affairs
Singh told reporters on the sidelines of the
Regional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.
Attending the two-day event in place of External
Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who had to return
mid-way from Dubai in the wake of the Paris
terror attacks, Singh alleged that debate over
intolerance in India was politically motivated and
purposefully generated before the Bihar Assembly
elections.
"I do not want to comment on how Indian media
works. And I will take you back about all the
funny things that are being talked about
intolerance, what you are meaning. When the
Delhi (Assembly) elections took place, suddenly
we found a spate of articles and a lot of hysteria
that was created that churches are being attacked,
the Christian community is being isolated etc,"
Singh, who is a former army chief, said in
response to a question on intolerance in India.

"A small incidence of theft in a church was

depicted as an attack on church. Why? Because
there was somebody who was trying to garner the
votes, and the media was playing the ball. Whether
it was being paid or not paid, I do not know.
That's a decision or opinion that you have to
make," he said.
"I am just giving you the facts. The day that
election was over all the hoopla was gone," he
alleged.
"Same is (the case with) this intolerance debate.
The moment Bihar elections are over everything is
gone. So lets not unnecessarily do things, which
are wrong. All these people who were talking of
intolerance and I would like you to put it down in
your papers what happened when a Gandhian
(Anna Hazare) in his 70s protesting against
corruption was picked up in the middle of a night
and put into Tihar (Jail). Which was the
government in place at that time?" he asked.
"Have these people got any moral authority to
even speak anything. So lets not unnecessarily
confuse ourselves with this that is happening and
lesson is for the Indian media," Singh said.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave nod to

major infrastructure projects, including
schemes, which were either stalled or
discontinued in the year 2013-14. Following are
the highlights:
Approves revised cost estimate for
construction of rail-cum-road bridge across
Ganga at Munger; Rs 2,700 crore sanctioned for
the project.
Approves issue of IPO of Cochin Shipyard
Limited.
Approves sale of 10 per cent stake in Coal
India Ltd.
Approves doubling of 189-km KottavalasaKoraput railway line.
Approves doubling of 110.22-km Jagdalpur
Koraput railway line.
Approves biomedical research facility at a cost
of over Rs 338.58 crore.
Hikes relief to migrants from hilly areas of
Jammu on par with Kashmiri Pandits. Now,
monetary assistance will be Rs 2,500, up from
Rs 400.
Approves 3,000 jobs for Kashmiri Pandits,
along with 6,000 houses for them.
Major railway projects cleared for eastern
states at a cost of Rs 7,500 crore.
Brings in WTO-compliant scheme for
sugarcane-growing farmers to help boost
production and export of sugar.
Cabinet sets March 2017 deadline to complete
computerised system to interconnect police
stations and prosecution agencies.